(Photos via Shorpy)
36 Amazing Vintage Photos of America During World War 2
Rare Photos of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski in London in 1968
36 Stunning Vintage Photos of Pattie Boyd in the 1960s
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Pattie Boyd was the face of the ’60s. Her blonde hair, deep bangs, long legs, and perfect pout got her on magazine covers and snared her a bit part in the Beatles’ first film, A Hard Day’s Night. She met George Harrison on the very first day of filming, and he asked her out—thinking that she looked exactly like Brigitte Bardot.
She married the quiet Beatle, living a rarified life that few of us will ever experience. Boyd not only is famous for her iconic beauty, but for introducing the Fab Four to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and also for leaving Harrison for his best friend Eric Clapton and inspiring some of rock’s most heart-torn classics like Harrison’s “Something,” “I Need You,” and Clapton’s “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight.”
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Vintage Photos Showing Old West Saloons From the 19th and Early 20th Centuries
In the American Old West, a saloon designates a café or hotel. The first was established in 1822 at Brown’s Hole, Wyoming, between Colorado and Utah, to serve trappers during the harsh fur season. The popularity of these establishments is attested by the fact that even a city of 3,000 inhabitants, such as Livingston (Montana), recorded up to 33 saloons in 1883.
Who goes to the saloon? Cowboys to negotiate cattle, drink alcohol, play poker… There are trappers, travelers, gold diggers, soldiers, lawyers, railwaymen … The myth of the smoky saloon was born. Many saloons welcome their clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are often accused of being propitious to scenes of “general fights”, or pistol duels that end in shootings in the street or public hangings.
Take a look at these rare photos to see what real cowboys at saloons looked like in the 19th and early years of 20th centuries.
54 Incredible Photos of Nurses in World War 1
Nursing played a crucial role during the First World War. Emergency medical practices evolved enormously during the war years (1914–1918) and thousands more medical workers were involved than in previous wars. New and innovative practices included blood transfusions, the use of antiseptics, local anesthetics, and painkillers. During the course of the War, membership in the American Red Cross grew from 17,000 to more than 20 million, and 20,000 registered nurses were recruited for military service. In the United Kingdom, 38,000 members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) served in hospitals or worked as ambulance drivers and cooks.
Modern medical nursing finds its origins in the remarkable career of Florence Nightingale, the “ministering angel” and “lady with the lamp” who served day and night during the Crimean War (1853–1856). Her understanding of the importance of hygiene saved countless lives and set the stage for nursing as we know it today. Nightingale’s model was followed and greatly expanded upon during the First World War by remarkable women such as Edith Cavell, who saved many lives from both sides of the conflict but ended up before a German firing squad; and the subversive motorbike-riding team of Mairi Chisholm and Elsie Knocker, who left their military medical stations to set up their own clinic closer to the front lines where they could save lives rather than simply provide transportation to the morgue. Similarly, novelist Mary Borden founded a field station that she called “the second battlefield” close to the front lines. https://www.theworldwar.org/explore/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/nurses
40 Vintage Photographs of New York City at Night during the 1940s
(Photos by Andreas Feininger/ LIFE Archive Photos)
46 Vintage Photos of Lumberjacks Who Felled Big Trees in the Early 20th Century
Flapper Icon and Sex Symbol: 50 Stunning Photos of Actress Louise Brooks in the 1920s
Mary Louise Brooks, known professionally as Louise Brooks, was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She began dancing at an early age with the Denishawn Dancers (which was how she left Kansas and went to New York) and then became one of the most fascinating and alluring personalities ever to grace the silver screen.
Brooks is famous for her bob hairstyle that she helped popularize during the prime of her career. Thousands of women were attracted to that style and adopted it as their own.
Brooks of her dark haired look and being the beautiful woman that she was, plus being a modern female, she was not especially popular among Hollywood’s clientle. She just did not go along with the norms of the film society.
Brooks really came into her own when she left Hollywood for Europe. There she appeared in a few German productions which were very well made and continued to prove she was an actress with an enduring talent. Until she ended her career in film in 1938, she had made only 25 movies. After that, she spent most of her time reading and painting. She also became an accomplished writer, authoring a number of books, including her autobiography.
Brooks died of a heart attack in Rochester, New York in 1985. She was 78 years old.
Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see the beauty of Louise Brooks in the 1920s.
Lee Miller’s Stunning Images of Women During World War II
Raped aged seven. Spotted by Conde Nast aged 19. Muse to Man Ray in her twenties. Painted by Picasso aged 30. And the woman in Hitler’s bathtub in 1945, aged 38.
She is Lee Miller, a model who left the world of fashion to become a fearless war photographer during the dark days of the 1940s.
Lee Miller photographed innumerable women during her career, first as a fashion photographer and then as a journalist during the Second World War, documenting the social consequences of the conflict, particularly the impact of the war on women across Europe. Her work as a war photographer is perhaps that for which she is best remembered – in fact she was among the 20th century’s most important photographers on the subject.
Rare Photographs Showing Life Aboard Titanic Shortly Before Its Sinking in 1912
The Reverend Francis Patrick Mary Browne (1880-1960) was a distinguished Irish Jesuit and a prolific photographer. His best known photographs are those of the RMS Titanic and its passengers and crew taken shortly before its sinking in 1912.
In April 1912 he received a present from his uncle: a ticket for the maiden voyage of RMS Titanic from Southampton, England to Queenstown, Ireland, via Cherbourg, France. He traveled to Southampton via Liverpool and London, boarding the Titanic on the afternoon of 10 April 1912. He was booked in cabin no. A37 on the Promenade Deck. Browne took dozens of photographs of life aboard Titanic on that day and the next morning; he shot pictures of the gymnasium, the Marconi room, the first-class dining saloon, his own cabin, and of passengers enjoying walks on the Promenade and Boat decks. He captured the last known images of many crew and passengers, including Captain Edward J. Smith, gymnasium manager T.W. McCawley, engineer William Parr, Major Archibald Butt, and numerous third-class passengers whose names are unknown.
During his voyage on the Titanic, Browne was befriended by an American millionaire couple who were seated at his table in the liner’s first-class dining saloon. They offered to pay his way to New York and back in return for Browne spending the voyage to New York in their company. Browne telegraphed his superior requesting permission, but the reply was an unambiguous “GET OFF THAT SHIP – PROVINCIAL”.
Browne left the Titanic when she docked in Queenstown and returned to Dublin to continue his theological studies. When the news of the ship’s sinking reached him, he realized that his photos would be of great interest, and he negotiated their sale to various newspapers and news cartels. They appeared in publications around the world. Browne retained the negatives. His most famous album has been described as the Titanic Album of Father Browne.
(Photos: Fr Browne SJ Collection—UIG/The Bridgeman Art Library)
